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Inspired by Occam's razor,[1] the aphorism was popularized in this form and under this name by the Jargon File, a glossary of computer programmer slang.[2][3] In 1990, it appeared in the Jargon File described as a "'murphyism' parallel to Occam's Razor".[4] Later that same year, the Jargon File editors noted lack of knowledge about the term's derivation and the existence of a similar epigram by William James.[5] In 1996, the Jargon File entry on Hanlon's Razor noted the existence of a similar quotation in Robert A. Heinlein's short story "Logic of Empire" (1941), with speculation that Hanlon's Razor might be a corruption of "Heinlein's Razor".[6][3] (Heinlein termed it "the devil" theory of sociology, and wrote, "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity".)[7]

In 2001, Quentin Stafford-Fraser published two blog entries citing e-mails from one Joseph E. Bigler[8][9] about how the quotation originally came from Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, as a submission for a book compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law published in Arthur Bloch's Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980).[10] Subsequently, in 2002, the Jargon File entry noted the same, though not definitively.[11]

"Heinlein's Razor" has since been defined as variations on "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice." This quotation is falsely attributed to Albert Einstein in Peter W. Singer's book Wired for War (2009).[16]

^ abAndrew S. Wigosky (2004). RAPID Value Management for the Business Cost of Ownership. Digital Press. p. 5. ISBN9781555582890. [...] Hanlon's Razor: 'Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.' This definition comes from 'The Jargon File' (edited by Eric Raymond), but one poster attributes it to Robert Heinlein, in a 1941 story called 'Logic of Empire.'